Washington Nationals' Asdrubal Cabrera (3) hits a two-run home run during the 14th inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

If the Dodgers end up playing the Washington Nationals in the playoffs, they might try to replicate the first eight innings of Wednesday afternoon’s game at Dodger Stadium.

Those went down quickly, smoothly, before a day game at Dodger Stadium turned into a late-afternoon bonanza.

Kenley Jansen took the ball to protect a 2-0 lead, only to allow a two-run home run in the ninth inning. Washington crept ahead 3-2 on an RBI single that skipped over Adrian Gonzalez’s glove.

The Dodgers tied the game 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth when Jayson Werth dropped a fly ball by Justin Turner. They tied the game 5-5 on a two-run homer by Carl Crawford in the 12th.

It was finally safe to go home after the 14th inning, when a throwing error by Turner led to three unearned runs by the Nationals. Asdrubal Cabrera’s two-run home run off Kevin Correia (2-3) was the finishing blow in an 8-5 loss.

In the longest game of the season, had fatigue finally crept in to Turner’s right arm?

“No,” he said. “There’s no excuse for it. It just sailed a little bit up the line on me.”

Turner must have been the only one in the building who wasn’t feeling tired. Among the more remarkable feats Wednesday:

—Fifty-one players participated in the game.

—467 pitches were thrown.

—Twelve runners were left on base in extra innings alone.

If the 5-hour, 34-minute game was a preview of a possible playoff series, viewers on the East Coast can count on some late October nights. For the Dodgers, it was the eighth-longest game in franchise history.

The Nationals improved the best record in the league to 79-59. The Dodgers (78-62) maintained their two-game lead over the San Francisco Giants (76-64) in the National League West.

Considering how many chances they needed to squander, it was a difficult game for the Dodgers to lose.

They were also fortunate to score before the 12th inning at all.

Turner thought he had been hit on the forearm by a 94-mph fastball from Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann in the seventh inning. Home-plate umpire Paul Schrieber ruled that the pitch missed Turner, a call that was upheld when Dodgers manager Don Mattingly challenged and lost.

Turner stepped back in the box. Three pitches later, he saw another 94-mph fastball from Zimmermann, this time over the heart of the plate. Turner crushed the pitch over the center-field fence for a two-run home run.

To that point in the afternoon, the game had been dominated by pitching and defense.

Rookie right-hander Carlos Frias, making his first major-league start, matched zeroes for six innings with Zimmermann. He struck out four batters — two on cutters, two using a four-seam fastball that touched 97 mph on the radar gun.

After Turner’s home run, Mattingly called on Jansen to record a four-out save for the fourth time this season. He had converted the first three, but blew this one when pinch hitter Adam LaRoche blasted a two-run home run to tie the game in the top of the ninth.

Jansen then allowed the go-ahead run when Denard Span’s hard ground ball past Gonzalez — ruled a single, not an error — drove in Danny Espinosa from third base.

The Nationals called on closer Rafael Soriano to preserve the 3-2 lead, but he walked pinch-hitter Andre Ethier with one out. Turner appeared to end the game when he skied a fly ball into the right-field corner.

Werth, the former Dodger, drifted under the ball but simply dropped it, allowing Ethier to score from first base on the error.

“I hit it good,” Turner said. “(Werth) was already playing pretty deep. As I was coming around first, he went to catch it with two hands. He told me (during the game) it went right in the sun at the last second.

“Dre was busting it all the way around and we tied it up.”

The Dodgers loaded the bases in the 10th and 11th innings but did not score.

A.J. Ellis walked to lead off the 10th. Back-to-back singles by Gordon and Yasiel Puig loaded the bases. It was then — too late, it could be argued — that Mattingly replaced the slow-footed Ellis with a pinch runner, Erisbel Arruebarrena.

With one out, left-handed reliever Xavier Cedeno was tapped to face Gonzalez, a left-handed hitter. Gonzalez swung and missed on a looping curveball for strike three. Right-handed reliever Aaron Barrett then struck out Juan Uribe to end the inning.

Crawford and Turner singled off Jerry Blevins to begin the 11th inning. Each moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt by Joc Pederson. With one out, Matt Kemp was announced as a pinch hitter and was intentionally walked.

Mattingly wasn’t surprised the Nationals took the bat out of Kemp’s hands.

“But with a lefty there, we figure we have to get (the runners) over there and give ourselves a chance,” Mattingly said, “and we do.”

The Dodgers blew that chance, too. Drew Butera popped out to end a 10-pitch at-bat. Gordon appeared to be hit by a pitch that he swung at, which was called a strike, then struck out to end the inning.

In the 12th inning, the Dodgers were down to their final out for the second time when Uribe came to bat against right-hander Tyler Clippard. His two-strike single squeaked under the glove of second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera for a single.

That brought up Crawford, who smoked a 1-1 fastball over the left-center field fence for his sixth home run of the season. Tied at 5, the game headed into its fifth hour.

Kevin Correia pitched a perfect 13th inning before running into trouble in the 14th. Ian Desmond scored the go-ahead run from third base when LaRoche beat out a potential double-play groundout. Cabrera followed with his 14th home run of the season.

“We play so hard,” Crawford said. “We gave everything we had. We can put it behind us.”

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.